“Weapons”: The Director of “Barbarian” Returns with a Haunting Mystery About Missing Children | Coming Soon

Zach Cregger has earned the title of one of the most talked-about young horror filmmakers after the excellent 2022 film “Barbarian,” which he wrote and directed. That’s why his new movie, “Weapons,” generates a lot of anticipation, especially with its creepy plot (about the mysterious disappearance of children) and a promising cast (featuring names like Josh Brolin and Julia Garner).

“Weapons” could easily be one of the standout horror films of summer 2025 if only all the stars align here. Following the release of the official poster and trailer this week, here’s everything we know about the highly anticipated movie.

More Than The Man Behind Barbarian

Until a few years ago, Zach Cregger was a relatively unknown name, at least to the average horror viewer. He started his career in comedy when he was one of the founders and part of the cast of “The Whitest Kids U’ Know,” a television series that also spawned a sex comedy film called “Miss March” (2009) and even a music album called “The Whitest Kids U’ Know” in 2006. As an actor, we saw him in comedy sitcoms like “Friends With Benefits” (not to be confused with the movie starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake), “Guys With Kids,” and others.

In 2022, the independent horror film “Barbarian” changed everything. The film debut of Cregger, who directed and wrote the screenplay, was one of the biggest surprises of that year. The film starring Georgina Campbell (“The Watchers,” “Bird Box: Barcelona,” “Lovely, Dark, and Deep”), Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise in the “It” movies, as well as “Nosferatu,” “The Crow,” “Locked,” and more), and Justin Long (whose tragic fate in many horror films you’ve already read about in a separate article on the site), centers on a woman who rents an Airbnb house in Detroit for a job interview, discovers the apartment already has some guy staying on it, and most importantly, in a twist that will leave you with your jaw hanging open – that in his basement there is some monstrous entity, which connects to several other subplots at separate times. The film, with a modest budget of approximately $4.5 million, was a resounding success, generating over $45 million in worldwide box office profits. Critics raved about the film, and Cregger was marked as a promising name.

“Weapons” is the second significant film that Cregger will direct, but it will not be the last. In 2026, he will direct the reboot of “Resident Evil,” a project about which we know little at this time. We’ve also seen him as one of the producers of “Companion,” another critically acclaimed (and rightly so!) horror film of late. So, it’s a name that’s here to stay.

The War Between Studios

The impressive box office and critical success of “Barbarian” has made the script for Cregger’s new film a sought-after commodity. It went to auction, reportedly featuring major players such as Netflix, New Line Cinema, and Universal Pictures. In the end, New Line Cinema emerged victorious in just 24 hours, after paying $38 million to cover the film’s costs (from production to salaries, which is the estimated budget) and $10 million to Karger. The director and creator of the story also had the final say on the film’s version, based on “reasonable” judgment and the reactions it would receive at test screenings, as well as a commitment that the film would be released in theaters, not just on various home media and streaming platforms.

According to reports, one of the companies that sought to acquire the project was Monkeypaw Productions, the production company of esteemed creator Jordan Peele (“Get Out,” “Us,” “Nope”). The company collaborated on the proposal with “Universal Films” but lost out in the auction. This was a significant disappointment for the company, as agents Peter Franciato (also Karger’s agent) and Joel Zadak were fired following the failure.

What Is The Movie Weapons About?

“Weapons” takes place in a small American community in Florida. On Wednesday morning, a teacher named Mrs. Gandy (Julia Garner, known for her roles in the TV series “Ozark” and “Inventing Anna”, as well as “Apartment 7A” and a somewhat disappointing role in “Wolf Man“) discovers that all 17 students in her class have disappeared. We learn that the night before, at 2:17 a.m. — a time that is probably anything but coincidental — all the children had climbed out of their beds, walked out into the night, and disappeared, leaving no trace. The film follows the residents of a small community as they attempt to come to terms with the disappearance and uncover the truth behind it.

Here’s the trailer for the film, which was released a few days ago. Surprisingly, it mainly presents the setting and atmosphere rather than revealing silly spoilers.

We can expect some revelations and twists along the way, as the director himself attests. “That mystery is going to propel you through at least half of the movie, but that is not the movie,” Karger told Entertainment Weekly. “The movie will fork and change and reinvent and go in new places. It doesn’t abandon that question, believe me, but that’s not the whole movie at all. By the midpoint, we’ve moved on to way crazier s— than that.”

Karger noted that his vision was to create a horror epic. “It is more ambitious in almost every way. I don’t just mean in terms of the budget, but I just mean creatively,” he said. “The story is weirder, and it’s twistier and it’s bigger. I have way more actors to fit into this thing. The set pieces are definitely bigger. It’s just a bigger, weirder movie than Barbarian is.”

Pascal out, Brolin in: Who will play In Weapons?

One of the leading roles in the film, that of the father of one of the missing children, was supposed to be played by the acclaimed Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal (“Narcos,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” and “Gladiator 2”), but Pascal left the project due to his tight schedule and a clash with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” where he will play the leader of the group “Mr. Fantastic” (and, by the way, Garner is also cast in the film, as the lover of the silver surfer and a silver surfer in her own right). Pascal was replaced by the equally acclaimed Josh Brolin (Oscar nominee for “Milk” and also the “Dune” films, the mad titan Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and countless other roles.

The cast of “Weapons” includes Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Cocaine Bear,” “Fair Play”), Benedict Wong (“Marco Polo,” “The Martian” and Wong’s character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Austin Abramss (“Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark,” “Euphoria,” “The Walking Dead,” “Wolfs”) and veteran Amy Madigan (“Field of Dreams,” “Twice in a Lifetime,” “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Hunt”).

When Does Weapons Movie Come Out?

“Weapons,” distributed by Warner Bros., is set to hit theaters in the United States on August 8, 2025. Incidentally, the film was not supposed to hit theaters until January 2026, but there are sometimes positive changes to the cinema schedule. If you can’t wait for this film, like the writer of these lines, your wait will be shorter.

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